US bails Ukraine out after Moscow attack, covering Zelensky with ISIS — diplomat

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
©Mikhail Tereshchenko/ TASS

After the Crocus City Hall attack, the US tries to bail Ukraine out by mentioning the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, outlawed in Russia) terror group, outlawed in Russia, and to cover itself and the Zelensky regime it created, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an article for kp.ru.

"The American political engineers cornered themselves with their tales that the Crocus City Hall attack was carried out by the ISIS terror group," the diplomat noted. "Hence Washington’s daily bailing out of its wards in Kiev, and the attempt to cover itself and the Zelensky regime they created with the scarecrow of the outlawed ISIS."

Zakharova noted that a number of factors directly and indirectly indicate the US authorities’ involvement in sponsoring the Ukrainian terrorism.

"Billions of dollar and an unprecedented amount of weapons, invested without accountability and with use of corruption schemes into the Kiev regime, the aggressive rhetoric regarding Russia, the rabid nationalism, the ban for peace talks on Ukraine, the endless calls for a force resolution of the conflict, the refusal to condemn the years-long terror attacks, carried out by the Kiev regime, and the massive informational and political support of any, even the most atrocious actions of Zelensky," she listed.

The spokeswoman also noted that previously, the US intervention in Middle Eastern affairs has led to the emergence, strengthening and institutionalization of a number of radical and terrorist groups that remain active in the region even today.

"What is the logic, you may ask? Money and power. And, considering the international legal ban on direct interventions, it is also about sowing a ‘controlled chaos’ and reshaping the world order by the hands of terrorists," she continued. "Attention, a question for the White House: are you sure it was ISIS, won’t you change your mind later?"

World must unite to find masterminds of terrorist attack near Moscow — Russian ombudswoman

The international community must unite to find the masterminds of the terrorist attack late last week on a crowded concert at Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said.

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova
©Mikhail Metzel/ TASS

"It is very important for the entire world community to unite today to find the masterminds and hold them accountable to the fullest extent," Moskalkova said at a makeshift memorial near the site of the attack.

The ombudswoman also expressed condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased, wished a speedy recovery to those who were affected by this "monstrous, bloody terrorist attack." "Of course, the heart is filled not only with pain but also with hatred towards those who were able to commit this monstrous act," Moskalkova said.

On the evening of March 22, a terrorist attack targeted the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, just over the Moscow city limits. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, the current death toll is 137, but may rise. The Moscow Region Health Ministry said that 182 people were injured. Eleven individuals suspected of being involved in the terrorist attack have been apprehended, including four gunmen who were detained in the Bryansk Region, southwest of Moscow, as they attempted to seek refuge by crossing the nearby Ukrainian border. President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that, according to preliminary information, the Ukrainian side had prepared "a window" in the border especially for the terrorists to cross undetected. He promised to identify and punish all those who were behind the attack on Crocus City Hall and declared March 24 a day of national mourning for the victims.

Macron extends hand to Russia in anti-terror efforts

France is ready to work with with Russia to fight terrorism, French President Emmanuel Macron said, commenting on Friday’s terror attack on Crocus City Hall near Moscow.

"We are in talks at all levels, both technical and ministerial, to possibly offer our cooperation based on the information that we have at our disposal and that could be of use to the Russian side," the French leader said upon arriving in French Guiana, according to a video of his meeting with the press posted on the French presidency’s page on X.

Of course, this is Macron's ploy which aims to obscure the mastermind behind this terror act.

Israeli attacks kill over 50 Palestinians in central, southern Gaza

Israeli air strikes kill at least 22 Palestinians in central Gaza’s Deir al Balah region and 30 in Rafah in the south.

Israel's military carried out new airstrikes in Gaza and laid siege to two hospitals on Monday, despite what the U.N. chief called a growing international consensus to tell Israel a ceasefire is needed.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also issued a new call to Israel to allow aid in to northern Gaza to combat starvation after more than five months of war and not to carry out a threatened assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

"It is absolutely essential to have a massive supply of humanitarian aid now," Guterres said during a visit to Jordan. Rafah, the last refuge for about half of Gaza's 2.3 million population after many people arrived in search of shelter after being displaced by fighting elsewhere, came under heavy fire in the latest Israeli attacks, witnesses said.

Palestinian medics said 30 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours in Rafah, where Israel is planning a ground assault to eliminate what it says are Palestinian militant cells there.

Palestinians who fled the ongoing Israeli siege of al-Shifa Hospital say Israeli tanks and armoured bulldozers drove over at least four bodies and ambulances.

"The past 24 hours were one of the worst days since we moved in to Rafah," said Abu Khaled, a father of seven, who declined to give his full name for fear of reprisals.

"In Rafah, we live in fear, we are hungry, we are homeless and our future is unknown. With no ceasefire in sight, we might end up dead or displaced somewhere else, maybe north and maybe south (to Egypt)," he told Reuters via a chat app.

Dozens of Palestinians took part in rallies and attended funerals early on Monday after an Israeli airstrike killed 18 Palestinians in one house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, medics and witnesses said.

Israeli forces were also besieging Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, Palestinian witnesses said, a week after entering Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the main hospital in the Strip.

Israel says hospitals in Gaza are used by the Palestinian militant group Hamas as bases. Hamas and medical staff deny this. Israel also says its military operations are "precise" and that it does not target civilians.

The Israeli military said it had detained 500 people affiliated with Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad and located weapons in the Al Shifa area. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said hundreds of patients and medical staff had been detained there.

Israel's military also said 20 militants had been "eliminated" in fighting and airstrikes around Al Amal Hospital over the previous 24 hours.

It has been unable to access Gaza's contested hospital areas and verify accounts by either side.

PALESTINIAN ROCKET FIRE

Palestinian cross-border rocket attacks have tapered off in recent weeks as Israeli forces advanced through areas in the Gaza Strip from where missiles have previously been fired.

But, in a sign the Hamas arsenal has not been completely depleted, Israel's military on Monday sounded sirens in Ashdod, 40 km (25 miles) from Gaza, warning of incoming rockets. Medics said there was no immediate word of any damage or casualties.

At least 32,333 Palestinians have been killed and 74,694 injured since Israel's offensive in Gaza began, including 107 Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said.

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Watch Russian Attack Helicopters Wipe Out Ukrainian Military Hardware in Special Op Zone

Russian army aviation is tasked with destroying Ukrainian armored vehicles, delivering troops and military cargo, as well as providing air support to units carrying out missions.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has released an army aviation video of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroying camouflaged military equipment and engineering structures of the Ukrainian Army in the Kupyansk area.

The footage shows the crews of the army aviation’s strike group launching a strike on the enemy positions with the help of the S-8 unguided air missiles.

Shortly after, the crews performed an anti-missile maneuver using the onboard defense complex and successfully returned to the departure airfield, according to the MoD.

The strike group included Ka-52 and the Mi-35M attack helicopters, as well as a Mi-8 multi-purpose gunship.

Watch Russian Sharpshooter Take Out Ukrainian Troops One by One

Russian snipers are highly trained elite troops who operate covertly, striking the enemy from the shadows with the principle of "one round – one enemy down".

The Russian Ministry of Defense released footage showcasing snipers in action within the special military operation zone. The video depicts sharpshooters thwarting Ukrainian maneuvers in Artemovsk (formerly known as Bakhmut) suburbs with precise and lethal strikes.

The ministry emphasized the collaborative efforts of the snipers, working in pairs. While one sniper assists in locating targets and adjusts fire according to external conditions such as wind, the other executes the shot, swiftly neutralizing the enemy.

Russian Troops Improve Positions Around Avdeyevka - MoD

Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported on the progress of special military operation.

Ukraine lost up to 465 troops over the last 24 hours, said the Russian Ministry of Defense in a statement. In Donetsk, the Ukrainian Army lost a tank and US-made Bradley IFV while Russian artillerymen managed to obliterate a Ukrainian Krab howitzer and other military equipment.

©Sputnik/Alexey Maishev/Go to the mediabank

Over the given period, the Russian military also repelled 10 counterattacks by Ukrainian troops in the Avdeyevka vicinity and one attack in the Kupyansk vicinity.

Russian military forces also enhanced their positions near Avdeyevka, the Ministry of Defense reported.

"Near Avdeyevka, as a result of successful actions by units of the Tsentr Battlegroup, positions along the front line have been improved," the military department stated.

The Russian Armed Forces conducted strikes on Ukrainian troops in 142 locations, using aviation, drones and missiles while Russian air defenses downed 103 Ukrainian UAVs.

The Russian Army also eliminated Ukrainian electronic warfare stations, including two Nota and Anklav-N units, as well as US-made AN/TPQ-48 counter-battery radar station.

In total, since the start of special military operation, the Russian Armed Forces has obliterated 577 airplanes and 270 helicopters, as well as over 17,000 drones. The Russian Army hammered over 15,000 Ukrainian tanks and almost 500 air defense missile systems.

Earlier, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said that Russia has successfully achieved its goal of demilitarizing Ukraine since the Kiev regime's army has long been surviving only due to weapon supplies from NATO countries.

The US is cultivating an antagonist to China in Beijing’s own backyard

Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit 2024 in Melbourne.
©Penny STEPHENS / ASEAN-Australia Special Summit 2024 / AFP

The Philippines has been a treaty ally of the United States since 1951, almost as long as it’s been an independent country. Before that, it was a colony of the US, which had won it as spoils of war from Spain. Because of this, it is hard to characterise the Philippines as anything but an unabashedly pro-American nation.

In the past few years however, it took a different line. Under the presidency of the very blunt and frank Rodrigo Duterte, the archipelago became more geopolitically ambiguous in its foreign affairs, pursuing closer relationships with Russia and China, while still being cordial to the US.

This unusual “hedging” was part of Duterte’s strategy to adopt a more centralised approach to governing the country, which suffers from high levels of poverty, crime and disorder. Duterte was a hardliner, and also saw economic opportunity in getting closer to Beijing, despite highly contentious disputes over the South China Sea. His relationship with Washington suffered during this period, as it effectively contributed nothing to the development of the country despite the US post-colonial “overlordship”. Instead, Duterte opted for the Belt and Road initiative and sought to turbocharge the islands with Chinese investment.

Yet, just a year or so after Duterte’s departure, the return to power of the Marcos family has seen Manilla do an effective 180° turn in its foreign policy, and go from being pro-Beijing to an effective antagonist of the country in favour of the US again. Ferdinand Macros Jr, also known as “Bongbong,” is the son of Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the Philippines as a right-wing, anti-Communist dictator from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. The family was notorious for its corruption and theft of national assets for its own personal gain, but got away with it precisely because it was unequivocally pro-US. For during the Cold War, Washington would support figures of any brutality on the condition that they were anti-Communist.

Bongbong, like is father, is not innocent, and was elected president of the Philippines as a compromised man who is at the mercy of the US. Ironically, he faces prosecution in the US as a court order requires him to pay $353 million to victims of his father’s regime, thus he cannot enter the country. What does this translate to in political terms?

Leverage, on Washington’s behalf. Noticeably, the American authorities do little to enforce the ruling or seize assets pertaining to Marcos or his family, for diplomatic reasons. What is the quid pro quo here? It is clear that as long as Bongbong steers the Philippines' foreign policy where the US wants it, Washington will look the other way when it comes to the court order against him.

And it is absolutely no surprise that on attaining office, Marcos Jr initiated a U-turn on the country’s stance regarding China, and has dramatically escalated tensions with Beijing. While the Duterte administration sought to keep matters cool over the South China Sea territorial dispute, Marcos Jr has deliberately antagonised Beijing, pushing boundaries, and drawing international attention to the situation, provoking the US to say it will defend the Philippines in the event of conflict. Similarly, dozens of senior US officials have visited the country as part of a sweeping US charm offensive.

But not only that, he has agreed to increase the number of bases the US can access in the Philippines, has congratulated Taiwan’s president-elect, actively scaled back Manila's participation in the Belt and Road initiative by cancelling a number of projects, and has instead sought to court a relationship with Japan as an alternative to China, with the US, Japan and the Philippines set to have a trilateral leaders’ summit for the first time.

In a nutshell, the Philippines has gone from being a China-friendly state in Southeast Asia to easily the most antagonistic, a difficult position to take, due to the relative economic weakness of the country and its trade dependence on China.

For China, this situation is a headache and there are no easy answers. This is because Beijing has a resolute and uncompromising position on the South China Sea, most of which it claims as its own. The rigidity of this position not only clashes with Southeast Asian states but creates an easy political wedge for the US to exploit.

China makes itself look weak if it backs down, and US policy of course is to incentivise such countries to actively resist Beijing and give them the military backing to do so. So how can China mend its relations with the Philippines? It may simply have to avoid creating a crisis and wait until a more Beijing-friendly president is voted into office, because quite clearly, Marcos Jr is a compromised politician, with Washington being able to exploit his weakness and disastrous family legacy to its own advantage.

Moscow concert hall terror attack suspects brought before court- Video

A Moscow court has convened late on Sunday to hear prosecutors demands on pre-trial detention for a group of men detained in the aftermath of Friday’s Crocus City Hall attack, which claimed lives of over 130 people.

The suspects, all of whom are nationals of Tajikistan, have appeared before court individually. Thus far, it has placed terrorism charges on 32-year-old Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, with the man facing a life sentence if found guilty. Prosecutors told Judge Timur Vakhrameev that he had admitted his guilt.

The court has opted to rule behind closed doors.

Footage from the scene shows the suspect confined to a glass cage in the courtroom.

It has emerged that Mirzoyev is the father of four children. He has been placed in two-month pre-trial detention, which is standard practice in Russia in cases of this nature.

The second man, Saidakrami Rachabalizod, has also reportedly pleaded guilty. He has one child and appeared with his right ear bandaged, having sustained an injury to it during his arrest. He has also been remanded in custody for two months.

The court has also received petitions for the arrest of two more defendants – Muhammadsobir Fayzov and Shamsidin Fariduni.

The suspects, who are also facing terrorism charges, have been already transferred to the court.

Smoke bombs, Israeli military bulldozers target Gaza’s al-Amal Hospital

Witnesses Describe Fear and Deprivation at Besieged Hospital in Gaza

A young Palestinian man awaiting medical attention at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City this month. Israel’s assault on the complex has been one of the longest hospital raids of the war.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Israeli forces have launched “violent” ground and air attacks on Khan Younis and bombed homes in Rafah and Deir el-Balah, killing at least 14 Palestinians, according to media reports.

Palestinian Red Crescent says smoke bombs launched at the hospital to force staff, wounded and displaced individuals to evacuate.

Residents nearby described a relentless daily soundtrack of gunshots, airstrikes and explosions. A surgeon spoke of doctors and patients corralled in the emergency ward while Israeli forces took control of the complex outside. A Palestinian teenager who spent four days sheltering in the hospital described the bodies she saw piled up outside the entrance.

“They had put the bodies on the side and thrown blankets over them,” said Alaa Abu Al-Kaaf, 18, who said she and her family were at Al-Shifa for days before leaving on Thursday. It was not immediately clear when or how the bodies were brought there.

Interviews with other witnesses in the hospital, residents in or near the facility and the Gazan authorities in recent days, as well as with others who have left the complex over the past week, described a situation of fear and deprivation, interrogations and detentions of Palestinian men by Israeli forces, and a persistent lack of food and water.

The assault on Al-Shifa, one of Israel’s longest hospital raids of the war in Gaza, began on Monday with tanks, bulldozers and airstrikes. The military said it was aimed at senior officials of Hamas, the armed group that led an attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel began a war on Gaza in response to that assault, with intense aerial bombardments and a ground offensive.

A week after the raid on Al-Shifa began, communications with those living in and around the sprawling hospital complex have been almost entirely cut off. Many of the 30,000 Palestinians whom the Gaza Health Ministry said had been sheltering at Al-Shifa were displaced once again by the raid. The Gazan authorities said that at least 13 patients had died as a result of the raid because they were deprived of medicine and treatment, or when their ventilators stopped working after the Israelis cut the electricity. Those claims could not be verified. The Gaza Health Ministry said on Saturday that patients still in Al-Shifa were in critical condition, with maggots beginning to infect wounds. The director general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, posted a report on social media on Friday from a doctor in Al-Shifa, as relayed by a colleague from the United Nations. Two patients on life support died because of a lack of electricity, and there were no medicines or basic medical supplies, he wrote. Many patients in critical condition were lying on the floor. In one building, 50 medical workers and more than 140 patients have been kept since the second day of the raid, with extremely limited food, water and one nonfunctional toilet, Dr. Tedros wrote.

“Health workers are worried about their own and their patients’ safety,” Dr. Tedros wrote. “These conditions are utterly inhumane. We call for an immediate end to the siege and appeal for safe access to ensure patients get the care they need.”

Dr. Tayseer al-Tanna, 54, a vascular surgeon, said he finally fled the Al-Shifa complex on Thursday after days of hearing gunfire outside the ward where he was positioned. Dr. Al-Tanna said Israeli forces had gathered doctors and patients in the complex’s emergency room while they swept the grounds outside.

“The Israeli military didn’t treat us violently,” Dr. Al-Tanna said. “But we had almost no food and water” during the incursion, he added.

He declined to comment on whether Palestinian fighters had fortified themselves in the medical complex.

The media office for the territory’s government, which is run by Hamas, said in a statement on Saturday that the Israeli military was threatening the medical staff and people sheltering inside to either leave the hospital — and risk being interrogated, tortured or executed — or the military would bomb and destroy the buildings over their heads. The media office said it was in touch with people inside the complex.

The Israeli military did not address specific questions about whether it had threatened people inside the medical complex. But on Saturday it said it was operating in the area of the hospital “while avoiding harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment.”

The military said it had killed more than 170 fighters in the area of the hospital and detained and questioned more than 800 people.

The New York Times could not verify either the Hamas or Israeli military accounts.

Israel has long accused Hamas of using Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza as command centers and of concealing weapons in underground tunnels beneath them, a claim that the armed Palestinian group and hospital administrators have previously denied.

In a statement on Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that Israeli forces were “besieging” two more hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, Al-Amal and Nasser.

The Israeli military was targeting Al-Amal with smoke bombs, and military vehicles were barricading the entrances of the compound, the Red Crescent said.

The Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry said an Israeli assault on Nasser Hospital had been “violent and bloody” and accused the military of trying to incapacitate all the hospitals in Gaza.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that it had started an operation in the Al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Younis overnight. An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment further when asked whether Israeli troops were currently encircling Al-Amal and Nasser Hospitals.

In statements regarding the Al-Shifa raid, Hamas confirmed that its fighters were engaged in clashes with Israeli forces near the hospital. In one statement on Saturday, Hamas said members of its Qassam Brigades had fired mortar shells at Israeli forces near Al-Shifa.

Ms. Al-Kaaf and other Palestinians who have left the complex over the past week also described scenes in which groups of men were detained, stripped and questioned by Israeli soldiers. Women and children were separated from the men, Ms. Al-Kaaf said, and others — including members of the hospital’s medical staff, doctors and nurses — were kept in a large pit, sitting on the ground. Some were blindfolded and handcuffed.

The Israeli military said “individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity” were being detained and questioned in accordance with international law and released if “found not to be taking part in terrorist activities.” It added: “It is often necessary for terror suspects to hand over their clothes such that their clothes can be searched and to ensure that they are not concealing explosive vests or other weaponry.”

For those in the al-Rimal neighborhood, which surrounds Al-Shifa, the siege on the hospital has trapped residents in their homes. Several said snipers had been shooting into the surrounding streets; residents were fearful they could be dragged from their homes by Israeli forces, stripped and interrogated, as they said dozens had been over the past week.

“The situation is really bad,” said Mohammed Haddad, 25, who lives about a half-mile from the hospital. “For more than five days, we haven’t been able to go out and move around. We haven’t been able to get water, get food. And it’s Ramadan,” he said, referring to the Muslim holy month of fasting.

Airstrikes and random cannon fire have hit multiple homes in the immediate neighborhood, demolishing them, Mr. Haddad said.

“There are snipers, shelling, surveillance drones and armed drones,” he added, the buzzing of a drone audible as he spoke on the phone.

Israeli forces appeared to be destroying the entire area, he said, “not just the hospital.”

Rawan Sheikh Ahmad and Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.

Raja Abdulrahim is a Middle East correspondent based in Jerusalem covering the Levant. More about Raja Abdulrahim

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